Visited a quilt group !

Good for you, Jo. Good, good, good. There were lots of 'over 80s' in my Women's Missionary Circle back when I had toddlers and how I loved their company. Naturally, they were the type who could sweep the driveway, wax the floors and bake a cake well before 8 a.m. Easy for them. They didn't have a whirlwind to keep safe. And . . . they could do sentences. Polly

I suppose it takes all sorts.

I joined a group this month, too. I was about average, in age, I suppose. But it was lively and welcoming, which was very pleasant. Yes there were the usual, "I know it all, you can't teach me anything" few and the "OMG those are stitches, I thought they were spots on the fabric!" people. But all in all, it is somewhere I would ,ike to go again. You never know I might even make a friend or two. I find I am not too good at meeting new people out of context these days, so it will be very good for me.

And, boy! do I remember the "Oh, having children is difficult? I had mine between making lunch for 30 and running my own business, visiting the poor and teaching Arabic to the French girl next door." people. I thought I must be the worst mother on earth, with spit on my shoulder and dog-hairs on my trousers and bags under my eyes that Louis Vuitton could have sold for a mint! I didn't quite get to breastmilk in the coffee, but it was sometimes too close a call to mention. And DH was doing his best, it wasn't as if I was on my own. I later learned better, but by then it was too late.

Nel (Gadget Queen)

Glad you got out and got to spend some time with adults! It is hard to do it, but it is so wonderful to get bits of time for yourself.

There are all kinds of quilters just like there are all kinds of everything else. Certainly I've run into lots of quilters who learned a little and that was enough and they've kept constant through many years of sewing. Never challenging themselves or reaching for more. They have all they need and are content. It is a bit hard to think of them "teaching" others but hopefully the beginner will get advice from several and understand that more than one teacher can be a good thing as they all bring something different to the mix.

marcella

I can well remember being the youngest, but didn't think about it much. My first group included some of the funniest women I ever met. I learned lots from them, even the ones who didn't sew as well as I did. You just keep doing what you do, improve where you can, and you'll find the beginners gravitating to you :-) Just don't volunteer to run anything.

That is funny. The guild gals here used to tease about how I got 'let in' to the group since I was too young. Years later I still think of myself as one of the youngsters but I am a lot closer to the oldsters these days. I found myself doing too much of the physical work around the guild because the gals my moms age shouldn't be doing that. I am at a group now that has hired help to do setting up and it is easier for even me physically.

I am so glad you are getting out and quilting Jo. I bet your skills will encourage some improvement in them. I have learned so very much from quilting friends. When my kids were tiny and I needed to get out amongst adults I took a woodshop class. Just one other gal and no chatter of babies and diapers. That was my whole world at that point and I needed a break. The guys were kind and helpful and I learned a lot. I never even thought about a quilting group then. I considered myself a solitary sewist for way too long. Taria

I can well remember being the youngest, but didn't think about it much. My first group included some of the funniest women I ever met. I learned lots from them, even the ones who didn't sew as well as I did. You just keep doing what you do, improve where you can, and you'll find the beginners gravitating to you :-) Just don't volunteer to run anything.

OMG, sounds like every quilt group that I've been involved with!!! Hahaha.... So far, always the youngest by at least 10 years, therefore "at your age, what do you know....." Lots of experts, basting is my hate at our group at the mo, let me explain. The lovely French ladies that I sew with have just discovered basting glue in a can (can't remember the name) and so follows:

1. take top and baste to wadding and backing - OK 1 can is used for a 3 foot square wall hanging, to say that it was a little wet is an understatement.
2. take said basted wall hanging and tack diagonally
3. oops, forgot to mention, don't bother ironing the backing, who's going to look at that anyway.....
4. pick up hanging and try to stretch into shape.
5. start quilting at the outside working towards the centre, because if it rucks up, you can always cut it in the middle and slip stitch it down!

I wish that this was a joke, but this happened about 3 weeks ago...

My DM comes with me and we just watch in horror, trying not to look horrified.

A lot of the problem is that quilting seems relatively new here, not everything that you need can be found in any one shop and the magazines like to shortcut on instructions. A recent magazine that I found had 1 paragraph on what to do with the finished top and how to quilt - ie now you've finished, baste and quilt.....that was it! So it is no wonder that they don't know what to do, but with some people there is no telling them is there?

Janner France

ROFL! Cutting in the middle! Wish I'd thought of that (not). To be fair, it's only in the past couple of years that any magazine instructions included much more than "quilt as desired".

C>OMG, sounds like every quilt group that I've been involved with!!!

This morning I read a blog post where the person was complaining that people should just shut up about the right and wrong way to do things in quilting because there is no right and wrong :-)

I suppose that could be true if you don't have any concern about what the finished product looks like.

Big stitch hand quilting is really, really popular here particularly with modern quilters. So, maybe that trend is popular in Germany too. I like it on some projects as a decorative accent, but like you don't know that I'd want a bed size quilt done that way.

marcella